Take Me Out To The Ball Game
by quiffed
Summary: The puppies get frisky at a Quidditch Match. Peter is stupidified. Marauder Era.


"Padfoot! Moony!" Peter hurries over to the bench where Sirius and Remus are sitting, watching Gryffindor play Hufflepuff. He's been shouting very loudly in all directions, calling their names, but oddly enough, they don't seem to want to acknowledge the fact that they know him. This may be because Peter is wearing his Quidditch attire; an oversized red and gold hat, a Gryffindor scarf, and garish red mittens. He has worn this outfit religiously to every single match James or Sirius have competed in, and none of his concerned friends' attempts to stop him have ever worked. Tucked under Peter's arm is a rolled-up length of pink fabric. These colours all clash horribly with his face, which, rosy at the best of times, is now bright pink and sweaty. Grinning eagerly at his two best friends, Peter sinks down into an empty seat directly in front of them. "What's the score, huh?"

Sirius doesn't move. He continues to stare blankly at the Quidditch pitch, watching the tiny players getting buffeted sideways by the wind. Finally, he speaks, not looking at anyone.

"You know what, Wormtail? I couldn't give a fuck."

"Prongs is winning," Remus says hastily. "Seventy – twenty to Gryffindor."

Peter claps his pudgy hands in excitement and squints up at the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of James. Several red and gold figures circle overhead, but it's nearly impossible to make out the faces.  
"How many times has he scored?" Peter asks, unfurling the pink cloth carefully. Sirius groans audibly, causing Remus to give him a swift kick.

"Five times," Remus answers, eyeing Sirius warningly. "Johanssen scored the other two."

Peter nods enthusiastically and smoothes out the edges of the cloth. Written on it in large, precise capitals, is a message which reads; _GO, POTTER! WE LOVE YOU._ Even worse, Remus suspects that the sign isn't intended to be funny or ironic. He watches in silent horror as Peter levitates the banner above their heads, blocking a couple of third years' view of the pitch.

"Hey, Tail," Sirius says conversationally, "why the hell did you make a bloody great pink banner for Prongs?"

"It isn't pink," Peter protests, deeply insulted. "It is in Gryffindor colours, in case you hadn't noticed."

"No, what I _hadn't_ noticed was that one of our house colours was _fuchsia_." Sirius looks up at the banner with undisguised contempt, making Peter flush bright red and stare out at the pitch sulkily. Sirius smiles, despite his best efforts not to.

"Leave Pete alone," Remus whispers, gently taking Sirius's cold hand and placing his own on top of it. "He's _trying_."

"Trying _what_, Moony?" Sirius retorts, squeezing Remus's slender fingers. He's often thought that Moony could be a piano player, or a violinist, just because he has such delicate hands. "_Trying_ to be the biggest twat in the year?"

"Just… be nice, that's all," Remus replies, slowly stroking the back of Sirius's hand with his thumb. Sirius makes an indecipherable noise and looks down at his lap. Remus grins.

"OOoooh!" Peter's voice sounds unbearably disappointed. He swivels round to face the duo, who glance up at the scoreboard quickly. "Gremward _scored_. Seventy – thirty." His gaze falls on Sirius and Remus's clasped hands. "What are you two holding hands for?"

"It's a bit chilly –" Remus begins, but Sirius interrupts him.

"We're cold," Sirius states firmly, his hard eyes daring Peter to challenge them. Peter, never one for confrontation, shrugs and turns back to the game.

"You should've brought mittens. Like me." Peter eyes his bemittened hands proudly, admiring the scarlet stitching, then transfers his undivided attention back onto the little red and gold blur he thinks is James.

After a few seconds of relative silence, Sirius leans over slowly and blows hot air onto Remus's neck. He can't explain why he does it. Sirius feels Remus's whole body stiffen, feels Remus's bitten fingernails dig into his palm. Remus only ever bites his fingernails in the weeks just before a full moon. He even does it unconsciously; while he's reading a book or sitting in class, he'll begin to absent-mindedly gnaw on his little finger. It's rather endearing.

Very deliberately, Sirius puffs some more hot air down Remus's collar, watching the little hairs at the nape of his neck stand up.

"What-are-you-_doing_?" Remus hisses, his eyes staring fixedly ahead. Sirius leans in so close, his lips brush Remus's smooth white skin as he responds.

"Warming you up, you prat. Just… shush." Sirius parts his mouth and breathes warmly on his friend's neck. Remus can feel Sirius's pointy tongue flicker over his sensitive spots and closes his eyes briefly, enjoying the sensation. He's not cold anymore. In fact, he feels warm all over.

Sirius sneaks a tentative hand underneath Remus's robes and up inside his shirt, letting his fingers crawl up and down Remus's spine, tickling him in the small of his back. Peter is completely engrossed in the game, giving little gasps of excitement every few seconds. Remus too, takes in a sharp intake of breath and grips his seat tightly with his spare hand, so tightly that his knuckles turn white. Sirius has just bitten down on his neck, hard. Peter squeals shrilly from the row in front.

"Did you _see_ that Bludger – it was _so close_!"

Remus looks up at the rapidly darkening sky. James, in order to express his jubilation at dodging the Bludger, is now showing off. He executes a one-handed forward somersault in mid-air, then juggles the Quaffle, beaming. There is an indulgent cheer from the Gryffindors, as well as several wolf-whistles. Peter's mouth drops open unattractively.

"Padfoot, stop," Remus says quietly. Sirius ignores him, and lets his teeth graze Remus's shoulder. Remus tries not to moan with pleasure, and shifts sideways. "I'm serious, Pads. Quit it!"

Sirius lets go of Remus and withdraws his arm from his robes, looking hurt and angry. Remus can sense that Sirius's pride has been wounded. None of the Blacks ever liked rejection.

"Don't be upset," he pleads under his breath. "There are too many people here, it's too public." Sirius doesn't answer for a whole minute, but Remus can tell he has heard. He seems to be having some private battle of emotions.

"Why don't you just go sit with Wormtail?"

Remus's brown eyes widen in shock. He puts his hand with the chewed nails on Sirius's shoulder, but it is shrugged off. Remus feels close to tears for some reason. He starts to get up, but is pulled back down almost immediately.

"Don't be an _idiot_, Moony."

Remus is relieved that Sirius doesn't want him to go, but he keeps silent. He knows all too well how temperamental Sirius can be. There was a time in the Marauders' fourth year at Hogwarts, when Sirius had refused to talk to anyone, even James. After lessons, Sirius would slip off to the Shack, and not return until the following morning. After a few days of the silent treatment, Moony had been sent by the others one evening to reason with him, and this little confrontation had brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "don't shoot the messenger". Sirius had been so deliberately cruel and vicious that Remus could hardly believe that it was his best friend speaking. He'd just stood there, shaking with disbelief as he watched Sirius say those vile, hurtful things.

Remus would have never have spoken to Sirius again if he hadn't suddenly burst into noisy tears and apologised profusely. If he hadn't wrapped his arms around Remus's torso and hugged him fiercely. If he hadn't shown Remus the ugly patchwork of bruises on his back. Remus hadn't known what to do, so he'd just held Sirius close while he sobbed into his chest. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Sirius had interpreted this awkward gesture as asking for intimacy, and had spontaneously kissed Remus on the lips passionately, before breaking down once more.

That night, Sirius had rambled on incoherently about his mother and his father and brother, telling Remus everything, things that Remus would rather not think about, things that made him want to pick Sirius up and cuddle him and never let go. Sirius hadn't seemed to acknowledge the kiss until he'd calmed down and both he and Remus were falling asleep together on the grimy floor. Remus almost thought he had dreamed it.

The next day, Sirius naturally pretended that it had never happened, and gave James a punch on the arm in Herbology to let him know everything was back to normal. Remus never mentions it, but now he understands why Sirius sometimes goes silent during a conversation, or burns the letters he gets in the mail. He knows why Sirius doesn't like getting close to people, and why he can flare up at the slightest provocation. Sirius has been unalterably fucked up, but Remus loves him anyway.

"Peter, Sirius and I are going to head back to the castle," Remus announces loudly. Sirius looks up, confused, and Peter nods distractedly.

"What about the game?" Peter asks, staring at the sky.

"We've got Charms homework to finish. See you and Prongs in the common room later, ok?" Peter nods, still watching the Chasers wrestle over the Quaffle. Remus motions at Sirius to stand. Sirius gets up obediently, and follows Remus out of the stands in silence. Once they're standing on the grass outside the stadium, Sirius grabs Remus's arm.

"Moony, I know. I was being a complete cock."

Remus laughs, and pushes up his sleeves, exposing his forearms. Sirius always takes everything so seriously.

"You _are_ a cock. But I like you as a cock." Sirius rolls his eyes and smiles.

"Perhaps I should be a cock more often."

"Perhaps."

There is a deafening roar from the Hufflepuff stand. Remus and Sirius look upwards to see the players descending to the ground.

"What happened?" Sirius asks. Remus shrugs.

"I guess the Hufflepuff seeker got the Snitch."

"Oh, shit," Sirius groans. "We're going to have to cheer Prongs up."

"Prongs?" Remus asks, beginning to lead the way back to school. "Prongs'll be maudlin for a few hours. Big deal. 'Tail will be _distraught_."

Sirius laughs again, and follows Remus down the narrow path. They walk on in amiable silence, until Sirius says something so quietly Remus wouldn't be sure he hadn't imagined it, were it not for the fact that it's the same thing that Sirius said that night in the Shack. It's the same thing that he says _every single time_ something like this happens.

"Moony, that thing I did? That won't happen again."

Remus nods, and they walk contentedly back up to the castle.


End file.
